Monday, February 25, 2008

Today's OzRant
will be mercifully brief - I've been up all night ironing out the
wrinkles in the new subscriber-only site (think of it as "what
investorweb would look like today if GT's development plan had been
implemented in 2002").

Sadly, Hathor and Horus failed to watch over me during the
night, and Loki jumped across from another pantheon entirely, and stuck
bits of wood in the gears of my sexy new gizmos... making them run
slowly. I've sorted it out for hate most part, but now I'm at the stag
where all the coffee and showers in the world are not going to raise my
productivity.

Still, to get an idea of the presentation layer, have a look
at the link below (note: that is just a template - the links from it will not work)...

You might also feel like looking at the new version of the
Contango chart (for futures); I've sticky taped a version for AD
(Strayan dollar) futures into a special hole so that you can compare
new to old.

There is a load of other stuff contained in the subscription
side of things - a pretty amazing graphical workbench for Equities
valuation (and another one for Options, and another one for Futures);
the most detailed Market Breadth that you can get for Australia, and
more Fundamental Analysis than you can poke a stick at. But as with
anything, actually getting the silly thing finished to a deadline has
been a nightmare. So let's get this OzRant out of the way so
I can grab a couple of hours' kip.

Major Market Indices

The broad market - the All Ordinaries (XAO)
- advanced modestly, rising 55.3 points (0.98%), finishing at 5699.8
points. The index hit an intraday high of 5718 at 11:56 am (marginally
above the index level at 10:20), while the low for the day was 5653.5 -
a vestige of the opening calculation. The traded low (when all index
components were open) was just above that, but was at 2:30 in the
afternoon.

Total volume traded on the ASX was 1.3 billion units,well
below its 10-day average. The ASX's daily listing of all
stocks included 1358 different 3-letter FPO's which traded (i.e., had
non-zero trade volume). Of these, 507 issues rose, with volume in
rising issues totalling 581.1 million units. Conversely (or even
contrariwise), 554 stocks were dragged below the Plimsoll line, with
aggregate volume traded of 591.8 million shares.

Of the 475 All Ordinaries components, 205 rose while 200 fell.
Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.6:1, with
386.76 million shares traded in gainers while 246.85 million shares
traded in the day's losers.

The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX
20 Leaders (XTL)
- performed solidly, in moving up 47 points (1.55%), closing out the
session at 3082.1 points.

Among the 20 big guns, 18 index components finished to the
upside, and of the rest, 3 closed lower for the session. The 21 stocks
which make up the index traded a total of 141.22 million
units; rising volume totalled to 112.99 million shares, while
the 3 decliners had volume traded totalling 28.23 million units. The
major percentage gainers within the index were

Stockland (SGP),
-$0.13 (1.8%) to $7.08 on volume of 4.5 million shares; and

Foster's Group Limited (FGL),
-$0.08 (1.44%) to $5.46 on volume of 11.1 million shares.

At the other end of the market-cap spectrum lie the denizens
of the ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO)
- the place where non-mania excess returns lie. The small end of the
market significantly underperformed its large-cap counterpart. The
Small Ords advanced by under half a percent, adding 12.7 points
(0.38%), closing out the session at 3371.2 points.

Among the stocks that make up the Small Caps index, 88 index
components finished to the upside, and of the rest, 85 closed lower for
the session.

The 190 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 226.1 million
units: volume in the 88 gainers totalling 123.24 million shares, with
trade totalling 74.07 million units in the index's 85 declining
components. The major percentage gainers within the index were

Market Breadth

GICS Industry Indices

Among the 11 industry indices, 8 registered an advance for the
session, the remaining 3 lost ground.

The best performing index was ASX200 Financials ex
Property Trusts (XXJ),
which added 145 points (2.63%) to 5666.8 points. The 28 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 102.52 million units; 18 index
components rose, with rising volume amounting to 55.98 million shares,
while the 8 decliners had volume traded totalling 42.67 million units.
The major percentage gainers within the index were

QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE),
+$0.82 (2.96%) to $28.52 on volume of 2.1 million shares.

Second in the index leadership stakes was Consumer
Staples (XSJ),
which gained 204.4 points (2.61%) to 8022 points. The 10 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 33.8 million units; 5 index
components rose, with rising volume amounting to 11.04 million shares,
while the 3 decliners had volume traded totalling 20.4 million units.
The major percentage gainers within the index were

Woolworths Limited (WOW),
+$1.21 (4.35%) to $29.02 on volume of 3.6 million shares;

The bronze medal for today goes to Healthcare
(XHJ),
which climbed 193.6 points (2.17%) to 9104.5 points. The 9 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 7.9 million units; 8 index
components rose, with rising volume amounting to 7.36 million shares,
while sole declining stock traded 0 million units. The major percentage
gainers within the index were

CSL Limited (CSL),
+$1.04 (2.93%) to $36.55 on volume of 1.5 million shares;

The worst-performed index for the session was Utilities
(XUJ),
which dipped 79.1 points (1.36%) to 5746.8 points. The 11 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 23.4 million units; The 8 decliners
had volume traded totalling 20.4 million units, and 2 index components
rose, with rising volume amounting to 2.09 million shares, The major
percentage decliners within the index were

Babcock & Brown Power (BBP),
-$0.15 (7.43%) to $1.87 on volume of 4 million shares;

Duet Group (DUE),
-$0.05 (1.61%) to $3.06 on volume of 610.5 thousand shares.

Just missing out on the wooden spoon was Property
Trusts (XPJ),
which slid 16.9 points (0.98%) to 1709.5 points. The 21 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 82.91 million units; The 10
decliners had volume traded totalling 33.1 million units, and 8 index
components rose, with rising volume amounting to 29.15 million shares,
The major percentage decliners within the index were

Valad Property Group (VPG),
-$0.04 (4.3%) to $0.89 on volume of 3.6 million shares;

Goodman Group (GMG),
-$0.08 (1.86%) to $4.22 on volume of 3.1 million shares;

Babcock&Brown Japan Property Trust
(BJT),
-$0.03 (1.85%) to $1.33 on volume of 1 million shares; and

Stockland (SGP),
-$0.13 (1.8%) to $7.08 on volume of 4.5 million shares.

Third-to-last amongst the sector indices was Materials
(XMJ),
which slid 48.4 points (0.32%) to 15115.1 points. The 42 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 132.94 million units; The 17
decliners had volume traded totalling 44.51 million units, and 24 index
components rose, with rising volume amounting to 80.72 million shares,
The major percentage decliners within the index were